Blood from umbilical cords can treat a wide range of life-threatening illnesses in children, from leukemia to sickle cell disease. Cynthia L. Price, a WUSM pediatric research coordinator at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, describes the benefits of donating cord blood in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.
Donating cord blood can save a child’s life
(Republished with permission from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This article originally ran in the Health & Fitness section on Monday, May 31, 2004)
By Cynthia L. Price
Most mothers don’t realize that the miracle of birth extends far beyond bringing a baby into this world.
When your baby is born, you have the chance to save another child’s life by becoming a cord blood donor.
Cord blood, the blood found inside the umbilical cord and the placenta, contains stem cells – special blood cells that can be used for life-saving medical treatments.
Children with leukemia, metabolic disorders, immune deficiencies, bone marrow failure or genetic disorders such as sickle cell disease may require a stem cell transplant for treatment of these life-threatening disorders.
As a cord blood donor, you can provide these stem cells.
The need is especially urgent for minorities. Patients need a donor whose blood is very similar to their own. The best match is usually someone from the same ethnic background.
African-American births account for more than 50 percent of total births in the city of St. Louis, but less than 2 percent of cord blood donations come from African-American mothers. More such donors are needed to help African-American children – especially those with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder of the red blood cells that affects one in 400 African-American infants.
The Charles Drew Community Cord Blood Donor Campaign was established to help increase cord blood donations throughout the metropolitan area. The campaign is a partnership among Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
How to donate
Donating your cord blood is easy, painless, does not interfere with delivery and poses no danger to the mother or baby.
Once the baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut, separating it from the baby. Then the doctor or midwife puts a needle into the umbilical cord and collects the cord blood.
The donated blood is processed, frozen and stored at the cord blood bank. The bank is part of an international network of such banks that make their blood donation libraries open to doctors searching for the blood match that could save patients’ lives.
A family’s commitment to donating cord blood comes before a baby’s birth. To register to donate your baby’s cord blood or for more information, expectant mothers should call the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank at 314-268-2787 or 1-888-453-2673.
Cynthia L. Price has a master’s degree in public health. She is a Washington University pediatric research coordinator at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the project manager of the Charles Drew Community Cord Blood Donor Campaign.
Copyright 2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.